June 24th, 2010, 9:02 am

I never know to express the action of signing again. If I don’t hyphenate, it looks like they are resigning, like Nixon. But is re-sign really correct English? And why am I writing about this when the two major Sharks free agents have, uh, accepted new contracts?

Now, per Bob McKenzie’s twitter, we see that Marleau has signed a new contract worth $6.9M per year for four years, and Pavelski’s is good for $4M per year for the same duration. First of all, I’m surprised that Marleau’s number was so high, but I guess it makes sense after a 44-goal season. Like others have mentioned, I thought it was somewhat likely Marleau would get a ‘lifetime’ contract, for 7 or more years, with a more manageable cap hit. Given that Marleau’s wife is from the Bay Area, and he certainly has roots in the community, it would seem a long-term deal would be right up his alley. But for a player who’s main asset is his speed, I can see the logic in only paying him until he’s 34.

Pavelski’s deal, however, could be a little on the low side. During a podcast discussion we figured his salary range would be between $4M and $5M (between Kesler and Staal, in line with Plekanec’s production), and we just made it. $4M for a good two-way second-line center that may be named the captain in two months? Sounds like a good deal to me. I’m not going to go into the whole cap situation just yet, but this should enable the Sharks to sign Devin Setoguchi to a new contract as well. $3M sounds like the right number, given he only had 19 goals last year.

In other (good) news, Pollak reports the Sharks did a minor deal with Atlanta that greased the skids for Chicago sending Dustin Byfuglien there. That’s Doug Wilson, always the facilitator. Because of a certain maximum number of contracts that could be held per the CBA, ATL was up against the limit, and the Sharks were the white knight. DW took a couple of low level prospects (and a seventh round pick) off of Don Waddell’s hands so the Thrashers could accept Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel, and Akim Aliu’s contracts. I like that deal for Atlanta, and I like that deal for the Sharks. Get the big lug out of the West. It does give the Hawks some cap relief, but it cost them a top 6 forward and a great prospect in Aliu. Atlanta, for once, seems to have this trade solidly in the win column.

I’m actually quite glad we helped that deal along, not just because it sends some hawks out of town, but also because we pick up a 7th round pick with it. We’re pretty thin on picks at this draft and while a 7th isn’t much, it’ll help with the numbers.

Aliu is NOT a “great prospect”. he was a disappointment in the AHL this year, and was sent down, demoted to the ECHL

and the Hawks got 5 picks in the first 2 rounds to re-load their young roster, and they are keeping all their key guys, and Jeremy Morin, who they got from Atl, actually is a great prospect who scored 48 goals in Kitchener this year.

You might be right, but it was his first full season at the AHL level, and some guys need time to adjust, like the Sharks’ own Nick Petrecki. Petrecki, who is a 1st round draft pick, had by all accounts a disappointing year in Worchester. I think you can say both Aliu and Petrecki are still ‘great’ prospects, although the jury is out on both.

Same with Morin, who hasn’t even played a pro season yet. History is littered with guys that kicked ass in juniors only to have a rude awakening in the pros. Like Justin DiBenedetto, 93 points, 3rd in the league in scoring for the Sarnia Sting in 08-09, 14 points in 67 games last year for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Or Brett Parnham, 50 goals that same year for Oshawa, then 7 games in the AHL last year before being demoted to Utah of the ECHL (16 points in 38 games).

We’ll see if Byfuglien continues to be a beast, but the guy who tied for the team lead in playoff goals has to be at least on the bubble for being ‘key’.

Yeah, i’m surprised by the reaction Chicago fans are giving to this trade, as if Buff isn’t really that good of a player. It seems to me he is the second best “net-presence” forward in the league behind Holmstrom, and was integral to their playoff success. The fact that he was shutdown by Chris Pronger doesn’t mean he disappeared, it just means he was controlled by a superior defender.

Chicaco is definitely doing the right thing by restocking their draft picks, but they are so tight against the cap that it will be difficult to use any prospects in their pipeline that make more than $500k, at least in the near future. E.g. I think they have Kyle Beach coming up that may be good enough to play a 3rd line role, bu at over $1mil for his cap hit, that is another couple of Jay Leach/Brad Staubitz types they have to play.

More than I expected for Marleau, but considering it is for 4 years it is a more than fair price, and surely a discount on his FA value. Same is obvious for Pavs.

I keep seeing whispers that the Sharks are trying to re-sign Wallin. Why? I can’t imagine Mike Moore couldn’t fill that role adequately enough to use that money for a #2 Dman.

What do you guys think of Ray Emery? 6’2, 200 pounds. Fiery competittor, was playing well before getting hurt, has taken a team to the finals before. The team would likely split a lot of time with Greiss to keep him healthy. Could probably get him for a song.